Born on December 8, 1847, successful lumberman John Barber White moved from New York to Missouri in 1879 to help organize the Missouri Lumber & Mining Company, headquartered in Kansas City. He worked nationally to increase conservation measures in the lumber industry. Outside of business, he was an avid genealogist and president of the Missouri Valley Historical Society from 1912 until his death on January 5, 1923. His vast personal genealogical library was donated to the Kansas City Public Library in 1933.

The John Barber White Papers include materials relating to the genealogy of the White family and the genealogy collection owned by White; the lumber industry and conservation; Mrs. White's family, the Walkers; and the White's children, charitable giving, volunteer work, and social life. The collection includes correspondence, genealogical notes, pamphlets, photographs, postcards, scrapbooks of newspaper and magazine clippings, resolutions in memoriam, programs, speeches and statements, and the original catalog of his genealogical collection.